Dean Karlan (Yale; President, IPA; Chair, J-PAL’s Finance and Microfinance Program), Chris Udry (Yale; Co-chair, J-PAL’s Agriculture Program; IPA affiliate), and IPA Ghana staff officially launched the Disseminating Innovative Resources and Technologies for Smallholders (DIRTS) project, which examines the impact of access to improved-yield agricultural inputs and agricultural extension advice on land cultivation and earnings among farmers in northern Ghana who received access to rainfall insurance.During the event that accompanied the launch of the program, Dean and Chris presented results from the Examining Under-Investment in Agriculture (EUI) project.

The Multilateral Investment Fund at the Inter-American Development Bank convened a working group to share insights on the role of remittances and savings in helping transnational households manage their finances.Dean Yang (University of Michigan; IPA and J-PAL affiliate) presented his work evaluating the links between remittances and savings products in transnational households.

IPA, J-PAL Europe, and Burkina Faso’s Ministry of Education hosted a conference on education in French-speaking Africa in Ouagadougou on July 10.The conference aimed to share the results of rigorous evaluations and to discuss policy lessons on how to improve access to and the quality of education in the region.Following the conference, the organizers offered a one-day training on impact evaluation methods.The conference brought together over 160 practitioners from multilateral organizations, governments, NGOs, and the private sector from more than ten different African countries and over 100 participants completed the training.